Upgrading the computer lab to a computer..  uhm.. VR/laptop...  uh... podspace?

We're making 26 of these and fitting them/ upholstering them together so we'll have hexagons and not trapezoids 

Mask testing rig for NIOSH N99

MASK WORK ON PAGE 4

MASK MAKING COVID WORK BEGINS ON PAGE 4

Click to view PDF

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PDF

Ugh....
Too many people are asking us about my efforts fighting COVID.  I'm going to put all my content relating to that here:

MASK MAKER(EXPONENTIAL)

Fancy tech that makes masks exponentially(up to around 200 masks per worker per hour).  Costs about $1 per mask.

Reference Model 

A nestable mold master for pouring unaltered Montana Masks

The printer doesn't matter as long as you can fit the massive 6 1/4" x 8 1/14" (70cm x 210cm) object.  You can print with rigid ABS, PLA, a flexible Nylon, or anything that will easily hold its shape. Use a 100% infil as you will be clamping this part.  The finished print needs to have at least a shore A hardness of 60 or more. I produce each mask at $0.98 and the rubber for the mold is $12.64
 

 You're not making a mask with the printer.  You're making a two-part container to cast molds(from ecoflex or moldstar) to make masks.  Then pour masks out of Smooth-on's 61D or Task 8(if you need the mask to survive an autoclave).  This sounds like a lot of work, but there are cumulative returns on your effort!  That means you'll produce masks exponentially. 

Create N-1 masks per hour where N= the molds you've casted.  On Apr 20th, I created 50 masks.  On April 21st, I was able to increase production to over 100/day while still working and only using my 15 min breaks, lunch hour and some time outside of work.

For example, if you poured 15 molds, you can create 14 masks an hour or  168 masks per day without a 3D printer.  If you 3D print five mold masters, you can cast five molds at a time!  This will scale more exponetially than the virus is infecting people!  Go team Humans!

Note that 61D can't go through an autoclave, but in talking to hospitals, they're just using bleach water here in Montana.  Smooth-On recommends using Task 8 if you want your mask to survive the autoclave.  Bleach water has been proven effective on a ABS FDM version of this mask via a culture test.  Culture tests are a good start... but they don't indicate the irradication of a virus.  Having said that... bleach kills over 99.99% of viruses and Covid19 is proven to be one of them. 61D has much lower porocity than ABS FDM.  It should perform far better when washed with bleach water or even wiped with a Saniwipe.  If you pour your masks with Task 8, it will be able to withstand an autoclave.
I recommend using long clamps to hold the molds together.  I stop at sections of 15 molds because my clamps aren't long enough.    15 molds per clamping might be a good number to stop at anyway.

Printer Technology/Material 

Powder Bed Fusion

Printer Make/Model 

zprinter 150

Keyword(s) 

n95 stop gap mold exponential creation

Click to Enlarge - 8 image(s)

New super shiny cool stuff:

https://3dprint.nih.gov/builds/saintmeh/nestable-mold-unaltered-montana-mask-exponential-home-manufacturing

https://3dprint.nih.gov/discover/3dpx-013921

NIOSH PRETESTING RIG (N99 MASK)

blarg....   see two blog posts from now.  Copy/paste was giving me grief and I want to spend more time actually researching and developing cool shit instead of communicating to others why our work is important.  Really, why do people even have to be convinced that we're awesome at this point?

Deprecated crap(archives):

https://3dprint.nih.gov/builds/saintmeh/richardson-mask-mold

https://3dprint.nih.gov/discover/3dpx-013379

Here's a blurry old image of our Board scrubbing/painting walls.  We've since created a circuit board pattern on all of the hackspace walls and erected dividers from hastings shelves.  We've also seemed in a circuit pattern into the carpet for the front room(and half of the eng/incubation rooms).  much of the junk is on shelves now.

You'll notice the burnt out lights.  I like the dark... but I'm going to install new fixtures this month.   One of our awesome members is an electrician and he's helping me to not suck. Here's the lighting diagram.

Hope to see you soon!

Pics of upcoming building

MEH will be GLORIOUS! Jan 12th!  We are moving into a new place.  Here's something to tide you over:

Tentative plans for new floor layout.  Hacker lab may get converted to Aquaponics Lab.

There are certain people I have made MEH for.  These are passionate, hilarious, yet lonely nerds.  Nerds--who are alone even when they're around others.  These people are the reason I want MEH to exist.  

Sometimes conversation... good... brilliant... daring conversation is like good sex... but it can last an entire day and can give birth to a beautiful idea(instead of a whiny miniature flesh golem waiting for some semblance of soul to be bludgeoned into it by the iron-cold hammer of reality).

Smart people can get really suicidal if they don't have opportunities to share their dreams and passions.  You essentially could die from blue-balls of the mind.

I'm just assuming that everything feels like shit right now.  Hang in there.  The hackspace is starting up with a loud "BLARGGGGG!!!""  over the rooftops of the state capital on Jan 12th!

~Saint

PS:  Pics, or it didn't happen in my mind:

Engineering Bay

Welcome room(with crafting)

Hacker Lab(may become aquaponics and our competitive security team can just use the classroom)

Uhm... a hallway... with ADA access to our bathrooms 

Aforementioned Classroom(Only 5 students seats available, we don't intend on teaching large classes)

Electronics Room

What more do you want?  You want renderings of the bathroom?  go away!  Come back in a month!






















oh fine... here:

Limbo

As of two weeks ago, MEH is in a state of limbo.  We are saving our pennies for a big renovation and waiting for Jan 12th when our tenants move out.  We can't do anything until Jan 12th anyway.  I know it's depressing that we won't be around much for the next two months.  Especially during the holidays.  But we will come back with a ROAR!

...

Hmm...  Maybe I could...  damn...  I don't know.  I'm tearing my hair out in anticipation.  Impending advances require just as much preparation as impending doom.  Nearly every battle is decided before boots even hit the ground.

If you want, you could come over and help me plan.  Your not the first person to wonder about MEH.  Perhaps we should meet tomorrow somewhere(with Internet) and get some of this prep work done.  I could even turn it into a weekly work-and-meet where we all "businessnate."  Perhaps my house?

Here are some of the things that need preparing:

• New website that tracks membership dues(poking at meh.wildapricot.org).  It's under construction right now.
• Needs graphics.  Photos need to be shopped. 
• Pages need to be clear, clean and a touch quirky.  I'm thinking of scrapping the whole thing and just going with midnight.js and/or wow.js
• Door audit/access device to read QR codes and look up accounts
• 6 month rental on a Billboard needs to be designed. I would spend 4+ hours brainstorming before I ever seriously set lead to paper.  So far, all I can think is on malfunction junction($1500)...  some white Helvettica on a black background "Apathy?"    <next line>  "MEH!"  Then run an ad in the paper($180), radio($mother fucking free), adsense($200), and facebook($300) explaining it.  What will happen is people will ask others "LOL.  What's up with that stupid sign?!" and some people who think they're in the know(but really they we just exposed to a different vector of advertising) will say"OH!  Yeah.  That's something for a hackspace".  Which then prompts the question:  "what's a hackspace?".  Emotions get talked about ideas are forgotten.
• ASCAP license needs to be purchased, FAA needs to be updated(10 days from now), tower needs stamp(again).  FCC needs amendment.
• MEH sign needs to be made to spin($100 budget)
• Workflow for the remodeling must be figured out ($500 budget to remodel)
• That will buy us paint, new lights/ballasts, and carpet tacks :P. 
• Need a statement of work(possibly in Gantt form)
• I know we have to assemble 90 feet of Hastings shelving
• We need to disassemble/reassemble 40 ft of aquaponics shelving
• We need to assemble 20 feet of shelves from our old place
• We need to move the rest of the crap out of your sheds.
• Mount new ballasts
• Place down carpet runners
• set up the computer lab tables and hook up all the computers
• Run a little Cat5(2 labs and 15 PCs)
• Move in 20 feet of matching tool cabinets
• Set up wall-folding bench tables from the engineering bay
• Hang shelving on craft room wall
• Set up receptionist desk
• Set up information corral with our awards, accolades, publications
• Make basement inhabitable for my wife and I....  *sigh*..  this is a lot of work and a fair amount of money... but it will net MEH $600-$900 a MONTH from thereafter.

Hah!  Now that I enumerate all my work, it seems quite reasonable!